Social Media Policies for IRS, Veterans Affairs, Distilled Spirits Council and More

IRS Personal Use Policy
Your tax dollars at work: The IRS has issued a new personal computer use policy that prohibits employees from using government computers to access social networking sites. Other personal-use websites, such as Craigslist, dating sites, and pornographic sites are also off-limits according to the new policy.

Department of Veterans Affairs Social Media Policy
Not wanting to be outdone by the IRS, the Department of Veterans Affairs has also issued a new policy providing guidelines to ensure the privacy and security of personal information that appears in social media used by the department. The policy includes directives regarding privacy policies, protection of First Amendment rights, regulatory compliance, and removal of inappropriate user comments. Interestingly, the VA’s announcement of the new policy states that the VA has “over 100 Facebook pages, more than 50 Twitter feeds, two blogs, a YouTube channel, and a Flickr page.”

LinkedIn Privacy Concerns
LinkedIn, which has largely avoided the privacy-related controversies that have plauged other social networking sites, announced that it would not move forward with a plan to place users’ photos and recommendations in advertising displayed on its network. LinkedIn’s head of marketing solutions products told users “we hear you loud and clear” after the company received complaints about the plan.

FTC Won’t Be Investigating Ashton Kutcher
Initial reports indicated that the FTC was preparing to harsh Ashton Kutcher’s buzz. The word on the street was that the actor was facing questions from the Man about his failure to disclose his investments in Internet companies profiled in the online-only issue of Details magazine that he edited and posted on social networking sites. Luckily for Mr. Kutcher, the bad vibes were dispelled when an FTC spokesman subsequently announced that everything was copasetic and there would be no investigation.

Facebook User Engagement on the Decline?
Feeding our insatiable appetite for social networking statistics, a new study suggests that user engagement with certain Facebook activities may be declining. According to the study, Facebook activities such as virtual gifting, messaging to friends, joining a group, searching for new contacts, installing an app, and instant messaging are all on the decline.

Record Traffic for Facebook and Twitter
On the other hand, comScore’s July 2011 traffic numbers show that Facebook and Twitter both drew record traffic in terms of unique U.S. visitors for the month. Facebook saw 162 million unique visitors, while Twitter drew 32.8 million uniques in July.

Pew Internet Survey: Social Media Is Not Taking Over the World Yet
On the third hand, a recent Pew Internet survey indicates that social media use is not (yet) ubiquitous in the U.S., with only half of U.S. adults reporting that they use social media. In the U.K., results of the annual survey from the Office of National Statistics indicate that 57% of the U.K. population aged 16 and over is now using social media. All of these statistics can get confusing, but one thing is certain: social media either is or is not taking over the world.

Facebook Gets Advanced Privacy Controls
Facebook announced significant changes regarding privacy, content sharing, and tagging. Among other things, individual items of content on a user’s profile page now have drop-down menus that let the user change who can see the content – the public, just friends, or custom settings. Previously, users had to go to the separate privacy settings page to make such changes.

Google+ Still Requiring Real Names
In our last issue of Socially Aware, we reported that William Shatner’s Google+ account was temporarily suspended for an unspecified rule violation. Sex and technology blogger Violet Blue ran into similar problems recently when her Google+ account was shut down because Google mistakenly believed that she had not used her real name to sign up for the service. Google apologized for the error, but for the time being is sticking to its requirement that users identify themselves with their real names when using the social network.

Does the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act Violate the First Amendment?
Bringing to mind War’s 1975 hit “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” a Missouri teachers union is suing to block the “Amy Hestir Student Protection Act,” which would restrict contact between teachers and students on social media sites. According to the teachers, the new law violates teachers’ constitutional rights to free speech and association.

Lamebook Trademark DisputeReports are that Facebook and Lamebook have settled their trademark dispute with an agreement that lets the parody site continue to operate under its current name, as long as it adds a disclaimer to its website and does not seek to register its name as a trademark. Our previous coverage of the Facebook/Lamebook dispute can be bound in the December 2010 issue of Socially Aware.

CAN-SPAM Does Apply to Facebook Ad Campaigns
Expanding upon the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in United States v. Nosal, Judge Jeremy Fogel of the Northern District of California recently held that an Internet marketer may be liable under CAN-SPAM and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and for fraud, based on using Facebook to conduct advertising campaigns in violation of Facebook’s terms of service. Judge Fogel’s most recent ruling in Facebook Inc. v. MaxBounty Inc. follows his prior order in the case, which we covered in the April 2011 issue of Socially Aware.

Lawsuit Against Facebook Tossed
Freedom Watch founder Larry Klayman apparently felt that the New York federal judge who tossed his $1 billion suit against Facebook, arising from allegations that Facebook was too slow to remove an anti-Jewish page from its site, showed a bit too much chutzpa. According to reports, Klayman stated, “In my 35 years of legal practice, I’ve seen judges dismiss cases like this, thinking they can do whatever they want. But they have to obey the law like we do.” A Facebook representative, on the other hand, asserted that “lawsuits such as this – which seek to hold Facebook liable for failing to screen and remove content posted by its users – are precisely what the CDA was enacted to foreclose.”

Gilbert Arenas Tweets Are in the Public Interest
Loose tweets sink claims: Orlando Magic point guard Gilbert Arenas sued in California federal court to prevent broadcast of the VH1 reality TV show “Basketball Wives: Los Angeles”. The athlete claimed that the show improperly used his name and likeness to imply that he was involved in the program. District Judge Dolly M. Gee held, however, that Arenas’ prolific tweets, in which he described various details of his daily activities to thousands of followers, meant that he could not persuasively argue that his personal life is not a matter of public concern. Publication of matters in the public interest is a First Amendment-based defense to California’s right of publicity law. Free speech advocates and reality TV fans everywhere are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief.

Distilled Spirits Council Social Media Policy
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States has issued new self-regulatory industry guidelines for advertising of alcoholic products on social media websites. According to the new guidelines, only social media websites where at least 71.6% of the audience is reasonably expected to be age 21 or older will be permitted to advertise such products.

About Socially Aware

Social media sites are transforming not only the daily lives of consumers, but also how companies interact with consumers. Here at Morrison & Foerster, across all of our practice groups, we are seeing complex, cutting-edge legal issues arising out of social media. As with the Internet boom during the mid-to-late 1990s, social media is generating new legal questions at a far faster pace than the law’s ability to provide answers to such questions. In an effort to stay on top of these emerging issues, and to keep our clients and friends informed of new developments, Morrison & Foerster publishes this blog devoted to the law and business of social media.

Stay Connected

About MoFo

We are Morrison & Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, Fortune 100, technology and life science companies. We’ve been included on The American Lawyer’s A-List for 12 straight years, Chambers Global named MoFo its 2013 USA Law Firm of the Year, and Chambers USA named the firm both its 2013 Intellectual Property and Bankruptcy Firm of the Year. In addition, BTI named MoFo among its 2013 Brand Elite. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger.

The views expressed herein shall not be attributed to Morrison & Foerster, its attorneys or its clients.